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Ho-ho-ho and a bottle of rum

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about the French sailor who just broke the sail-around-the-globe-alone-without-stopping (!) record. There’s listener news, some great music, and of course - the new quiz question. Just click on the arrow in the photo and enjoy!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to The Sound Kitchen. You can catch the programme on-the-air every Saturday at 6:15, 7:15, 14:45 and 16:45 universal time. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you have grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and tune in every Saturday.

For our DX enthusiast friends: Our shortwave frequency is 9735 kHz on the 31m band, from 06.00 to 07.00 UT every day. We’ve had reception reports from Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, the UK and the US, and although the frequency is “aimed” (or however that works) towards the African continent, give it a try. You never know … and be sure and send us your reception reports. Maybe we can get more time, which would be wonderful.

You can also hear our programs on WRMI and WRN. These broadcasters diffuse our programs out of the goodness of their hearts, but unless you tell us how you heard us, we have no way of knowing … so do write and tell us how you listen to us.

If you have an internet radio and would like to add RFI English to your pre-set buttons, send an e-mail to english.service@rfi.fr and we'll get the link to you.

We want you to call us! We have a phone number you can call to leave us a message, so we can hear your voice! Just call, give your name, your country, and a short message - something like “I love RFI”, because of course you do – and we can put you on-the-air! Remember, World Radio Day will be here before we know it, so leave a message for your fellow radio lovers which we can air on the big day (13 February). The number to call is: + 33 1 84 22 95 82.

Welcome to our new RFI Listeners Club members! Both are from The Gambia: McEdwin Ifeanyi Obi from Banjul and Lamin K Kongira from Lamin Village. So glad you have joined us!

You too can be a member of the RFI Listeners Club – just write me at english.service@rfi.fr and tell me you want to join, and I’ll send you a membership number. It’s that easy.

The RFI Club photography contest is open! This is what you have to do: take a photo of your entire club membership with the RFI banner, doing something in the kitchen, or something to do with cooking - which will make us laugh! So put on your silly thinking caps, get out your pots and pans or whatever you choose, and get all your club members in the photo with the RFI banner … and make us laugh! Send your entries to english.service@rfi.fr and audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr Audrey already has the present for the winning club: a Cyber-shot Sony camera! The deadline for your photos is 15 February.

The RFI Listener Relations department is asking all you football playing radio fans to send photos for the “Ma RFI” web page (it’s in French). They want action photographs, not posed team photos. It’s a cool idea – players and playing fields from around the world. Send your action football photos to english.service@rfi.fr and I’ll send you the link to see the page with other football playing RFI radio fans. Don’t be shy!

This week’s quiz: On 23 December, I asked you about a story on the RFI English website about a young Frenchman who had just beat the world record for the fastest non-stop solo navigation of the globe. My question to you was: what is his name and how long did it take him to sail around the world?

The answer is:François Gabart. He completed the race in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds. The 34-year-old sailor comfortably beat the previous record set by his compatriot Thomas Coville last year by six days and 10 hours.

The winners are: Brand-new RFI Listeners Club member McEdwin Ifeanyi Obi from Banjul, The Gambia and long-time RFI Listeners Club member Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark; Nestord Cho Kama from Bamenda, Cameroon; Bithi Khaton of the Lolona Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh and RFI Listeners Club member Jörg-Clemens Hoffmann from Alsbach-Hähnlein in Germany.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: Dvorak: “Romance for Violin and Orchestra in f minor op. 11”, performed by violinist Isaac Stern with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy; Rimsky - Korsakov: “The Flight of the Bumblebee”; Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein: “All The Things You Are”, sung by Ella Fitzgerald.

This week’s question: You'll have to listen to the show to participate. You have until 26 February to enter this week's quiz. The winners will be announced on the 3 March program. Be sure you send your postal address in with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.